Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Fiddlefish on August 29, 2014, 02:17:32 AM
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Hi! :)
I recently bought 2 ghost shrimp and they have been doing well. I've never had shrimp before and any advice would be GREAT!! They're currently in QT in a 5 gallon tank, they will go in a 20 gal. community tank soon.
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i was told that most people suffer shrimp losses during there molting process and jus before i bought mine (amano shrimp ) i had read a article on here with sue about something called GENCHEM BETA-G Beta G helping to boost there immune system so i decided that when i bough my first 8 shrimp i would use it also after reading good reviews about it and after 8 weeks i still had all 8 of my shrimp and they was molting well so about 4 weeks ago i purchased another 10 amano shrimp and iam fairly sure there all still alive and i regulary can count up to about 14 of them at one time and all seems to be good , obviously i cant say that the beta g is responsible for this but i wouldnt stop to use it now and would certainly say its something good to have for anyone keeping shrimp.
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I can't take the credit for beta G :D It was Natalia that told me about it when I had problems with shrimps dying when they tried to moult, and it seemed to work for me too. She told me there are shrimp specific bugs that can kill shrimps and while there are medications you can use, things that boosts the immune system like beta G are better long term. My shrimps are in the same tank as fish and they are OK with it.
Bear in mind that shrimps are more sensitive to water conditions than fish. When you move them to the 20 gall, acclimate them like fish even though they've been in the QT at your house. Depending what fish you have in the 20 gall, you may or may not see the shrimps as they tend to hide a lot when there are what are perceived as potential shrimp-eaters in the same tank.
Shrimps like moss and moss balls. These grow lots of micro-organisms which are shrimp food. They graze them constantly. For commercial food, look at Hikari shrimp cuisine.
Shrimps shed their skins to grow so if you see a dead shrimp, it may be a moulted skin, check it to see. Dead shrimps usually go pinkish like cooked shrimps. If you do find a motionless pink shrimp, it's probably dead.
If ghost shrimp are anything like cherry shrimp, be prepared to suck them up during a water change. My shrimps show no fear of the siphon tube and I have to pinch the tubing to stop the flow and prod them out of the way with the end of the tube. I have to go through the bucket before I empty it. There are usually half a dozen shrimps in there and not just babies but full grown adults. With ghost shrimp being a bit bigger than cherries you might not have this problem but check the old water the first few times you do a water change.
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Thanks! What about feeding? I'm guessing they can eat all sorts of stuff in the community tank but there aren't many scraps in the QT tank. Do I need to be feeding them? :fishy1:
Also, what would be the best method of acclimation when I move them?
So... I guess it would be a good idea to get beta G for them??
:wave: Thanks again. :fishy1:
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mine eat everything that they can get there hands on from flake to frozen bloodworm and they certainly like a nice bit of cucumber or courgette.
beta g would certainly be a worthwhile item to keep if you plan to have shrimp
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I've never fed the amanos in my big tank anything specific, but there were only a few of them, and I'm now down to just one after 5 years or so.
The cherries in the 50 litre are a different matter, they are breeding like guppies ;D I put pre-soaked, crushed Hikari pellets in mainly for them to make sure they get the correct nutrients while growing. But they share a tank only with Sundadanios which prefer flake and pygmy cories which take so long to come out that the shrimps get first go at the sinking food.
Acclimating them - put them in a bag (freezer bag is fine if you don't keep fish shop ones) and add a bit of main tank water every 15 mins for an hour then release them. Make sure they can't climb out of the bag.
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I'm moving them today!! :cheers: